I got my first Lister

[Clay]

I have a couple of questions though. I opened it up and everything looks ok, no sand or anything. I've been reading all I can about the engine, but I still can't figure out what kind of oil to use. All that I've seen is that I should use synthetic oil, but what kind are you using?

Also is it ok to fire it up for a test run with no water, or should I wait untill I set up the water tank?

TIA


Clay

[rocket]

for oil i went with a straight 30w non synthetic. seeing how it runs and oil consumption and of course temperature will change that. thinner oil in cold. the theory is the thicker oil is better for an engine built with lesser tolerances. and slows oil consumption. would like to hear others thoughts as well.

[T19]

Everyone I have talked to seems to like synthetic oil.  Oil consumption does not seem to be a big issue, and it has great cold and hot weather properties.

[quinnf]

Clay,

Remember, these engines were designed before multivis. oils were around, and where they're manufactured there may still not be any, so I agree with Rocket.  It's not necessary to use anything other than straight 30 weight that is recommended in the Indian Manuals.  If you're in a cold area, cranking should be easier if you use synthetic oil.  I live near the beach in southern California, where it never gets very cold, so I picked up a jug of Shell Rotella-T, which is made for diesel engines, just 'cause it was available.  Remember to drop a couple of ceramic magnets in the sump to catch ferrous metal particles.

As far as test-running it without water, go ahead.  There's a lot of metal that has to get hot before anything happens.  I limit my runs to no more than a couple of minutes, max.  For longer runs, I got some 3/4" NPT adapters that screw into the water inlet and outlet flanges and adapt to a garden hose.  Fortunately, 3/4" British Standard Pipe Taper is the same as NPT, so you can adapt to it easily.

Quinn

[GerryH]

Hi Quinn,
You know, I may be wrong but I think the only reason not to go miltigrade is the lack of filtration. The old straight mineral lubes recommmended are good because the crud settles out (in theory) and are readily available in India. I would have a terrible time finding straight 30wht engine oil without detergent in Canada. I like Rotella myself. It also depends on whether your Lister works for a living like Jack's, or is a hobby, or is a standby unit for power outages. I'll address this as me and rocketboy are in the same boat. We want an engine that sleeps when not needed, but we want to kick it awake and work it's ass off for a few days/hours and then ignore it for a while. For this I want a diesel grade detergent 15-40 wt oil and I'll rig up a filter.

Gerry

[quinnf]

Gerry,

I don't think multigrade is relevant to filtration, but the decision whether or not to use detergent vs. non-detergent certainly is, and that's probably what you really meant    

The advantage of detergent oils is that they keep particles in suspension, so they can be picked up by the oil filter within one pass through the engine.  When Lister-type  engines were made, most engines were splash lubricated, so high pressure oil pumps and pressurized oil filters were not common as they are today.  In order to get the crud out of the engine sump, you would have to run the engine up to temperature, then shut it down and drain the oil quickly, then remove the crankcase access plate and wipe or scrape out any accumulation in the bottom of the sump.  The advantage of using detergent oil is that the crud stays in suspension even after shut down, which makes it easier to ensure you are getting most of the dirt out of the engine at each oil change. 

I believe all multiviscosity oils are also detergent oils.  The multiviscosity feature is an advantage in climates with large temperature swings.  A 10W-40 oil, for example, has the viscosity of 10-weight at 32 F (0 C) and of 40-weight at 212 F (100 C).  If your engine is used for standby power, that is a distinct advantage because it's easier to crank over an engine that uses multivis. oil at low temperatures, and the engine will have proper lubrication immediately after startup, with no need to allow the engine to warm up before applying a load.

Be careful about runnin any oil filter in line with the oil supplied by the Lister/Listeroid type oil pumps.  They're not designed to develop any appreciable pressure like the gear-driven oil pumps in a car engine that can develop 80 psi.  Modern spin-on oil filters usually are intended to be installed on cars, and the design assumes that there is a pressure bypass valve before the inlet to the oil filter.  So if the filter were to become restricted, oil would be diverted from the filter and continue to lube the engine components.  With a Listeroid, there is no such bypass filter.  If your filter clogs (unlikely) or restricts flow (likely), the oil flow to your bearings could be affected.

Were I you, I'd consider getting a small gear pump and running  it off an electric motor driven by the generator.  The pump would take oil from the sump, run it througha  spin-on oil filter element, then return it to the sump.  That way, you still have oil filtration, but you haven't compromised the design of the system by adding a filter that Lister never intended the on-board oil pump to run.

Does that make sense?

I'm going to cross-post this to the Lubrication forum here.

Quinn